Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday cautioned that inflation will rise further and urged the government to act now to protect the people of the country.

Asserting that inflation is a tax on all Indians, Gandhi said record price rise had crushed the poor and the middle class even before the Russia-Ukraine war began.

India's COVID-19 tally increased to 4,30,06,080 on Saturday with 2,075 fresh infections, while the active cases declined further to 27,802, according to Union health ministry data.

The death toll due to the viral disease climbed to 5,16,352 with 71 fresh fatalities, the data updated at 8 am stated.

The price of ten gram of 24-carat gold on Saturday increased by Rs 10 to trade at Rs 51,770, while the price of 1 kg of silver remained unchanged at Rs 69,000.

The price of ten gram of 22-carat gold remained unchanged and the yellow metal is trading at Rs 47,450.

In his first visit to India after assuming office and also amid the ongoing Ukrainian crisis, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida during his two-day stay in New Delhi will take part in the 14th India-Japan Annual Summit, besides holding bilateral talks with PM Narendra Modi.

The India-Japan Annual Summit had last taken place in Tokyo in October 2018.

The global coronavirus caseload has topped 467.6 million, while the deaths have surged to more than 6.07 million and vaccinations to over 10.77 billion, according to Johns Hopkins University.

In its latest update on Saturday morning, the University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE) revealed that the current global caseload and the death toll stood at 467,671,421 and 6,070,281, respectively, while the total number of vaccine doses administered has increased to 10,772,862,375.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Bharatiya Janata Party national president JP Nadda are among the list of invitees scheduled to attend the oath-taking ceremony of Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, said sources.

According to sources, Yogi Adityanath, who led his party to a thumping victory in Uttar Pradesh, is likely to take oath as Chief Minister of the state for the second tenure on March 25.

Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison on Friday said the situation in Ukraine and its implications for the Indo-Pacific will figure in his virtual summit with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on March 21.

Morrison said ways to deepen bilateral trade and investment ties and harness new economic opportunities to support mutual economic recovery and growth will also be discussed at the summit.

American biotechnology company Moderna submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday for emergency use authorization (EUA) on a fourth dose of its COVID-19 vaccine for adults 18 years of age and older, who already received a booster dose of any approved or authorized shot.

The request to include adults over 18 years of age was made to provide flexibility for the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and healthcare providers to "determine the appropriate use of an additional booster dose," including for those at higher risk of COVID-19 due to age or comorbidities, said the company in a statement.

Tamil Nadu state government-run power utility, Tangedco has signed deals with Neyveli Lignite Corporation, Solar Energy Corporation of India Ltd and Power Trading Corporation of India Ltd for procurement of 2,900 MW of power.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin was present during the power purchase agreement, Tangedco said in a statement.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has sounded the alarm over a global spike in Covid-19 cases, despite reduced testing and several weeks of declining infections.

WHO said cases are especially on the rise in parts of Asia, urging for vaccination coverage to be extended and caution to be exercised in lifting pandemic response measures, Xinhua news agency reported.

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